21 thousandths. This microscopic gap cost Charles Leclerc the pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix conquered by the host Max Verstappen.
The world champion, thanks to a last lap close to perfection, exalted the orange tide by obtaining pole number seventeen in his career, while the Monegasque Ferrari can complain about a small flaw in the second sector which in the end proved to be decisive.
“Too bad. They are only 21 thousandths and I know where I lost them because I know what I did in turn 10. The mistake cost me enough, about 1 tenth, while I took all the other corners as I wanted. To the limit”.
In just seven days, however, a completely different situation was seen. If, in fact, Verstappen had literally dominated the session at Spa – trimming Carlos Sainz 6 tenths before being relegated to the grid to replace the power unit – in Zandvoort the Dutchman had to work harder than expected to get the better of a Leclerc and a Ferrari once again competitive.
“I have to say I’m quite surprised to be so close, especially considering how the Red Bulls were doing in Q1 and Q2 with used tires. They were much stronger than us. Luckily we got closer in Q3 ”.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75
Photo by: Erik Junius
Leclerc did not want to reveal where Ferrari improved during the session, but it is likely that the F1-75 managed to get the tires up to temperature immediately. The Monegasque, however, highlighted that he was very afraid of Verstappen, especially in the opening bars of the session.
“At the beginning I was a bit scared because Max was much faster than us with used tires, but then in Q3 the car found the right shape and I managed to do that lap with which I set the second time”.
Despite having been forced to chew bitter for a pole that escaped by a whisker, Leclerc wanted to look at the glass half full, underlining the return of Ferrari to those standards of competitiveness seen up to the Hungarian GP.
“We are much stronger here than last weekend, and that’s a good thing. For tomorrow I think our race pace seemed very solid. We are close to Red Bull but we will have to make a great start and then we’ll see ”.
#Leclerc #mistake #turn #cost #dearly